Wiktionary

witch

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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The noun is from Middle English wicche, from Old English wiċċe (“witch (female), sorceress”) and wiċċa (“witch (male), sorcerer, warlock”), deverbative from wiċċian (“to practice sorcery”), from Proto-Germanic *wikkōną (compare West Frisian wikje, wikke (“to foretell, warn”), German Low German wicken (“to soothsay”), Dutch wikken, wichelen (“to dowse, divine”)), from Proto-Indo-European *wik-néh₂-, derivation of *weyk- (“to consecrate; separate”);[1] akin to Latin victima (“sacrificial victim”), Lithuanian viẽkas (“life-force”), Sanskrit विनक्ति (vinákti, “to set apart, separate out”). Possibly related to wicked; see that entry for more. The verb derives from the noun.[2]

Noun

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witch (plural witches)

  1. A person (now usually particularly a woman) who uses magical or similar supernatural powers to influence or predict events.
    • c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]:
      He cannot abide the old woman of Brentford; he swears she's a witch.
    • 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 186:
      It was easy to understand that they were witches, who had turned themselves into ravens.
    • 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 106:
      However, the word "witch" came to be applied almost exclusively to women who were believed to achieve their power by making a blood pact with the Devil, sealed with their blood. They were usually old and ugly, and for this reason many unfortunate old ladies, whose only crimes were loneliness and a lack of beauty, went to the stake.
    • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:witch.
  2. (figurative, chiefly derogatory) An ugly or unpleasant woman.
    I hate that old witch.
  3. One who exercises more-than-common power of attraction; a charming or bewitching person.
  4. One given to mischief, especially a woman or child.
  5. (geometry) A certain curve of the third order, described by Maria Agnesi under the name versiera.
  6. The storm petrel.
  7. Any of a number of flatfish:
    1. Glyptocephalus cynoglossus (Torbay sole), found in the North Atlantic.
    2. Lepidorhombus whiffiagonis (megrim), found in the North Atlantic.
    3. Arnoglossus scapha, found near New Zealand.
  8. The Indomalayan butterfly Araotes lapithis, of the family Lycaenidae.
Synonyms
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Derived terms
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Translations
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Verb

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witch (third-person singular simple present witches, present participle witching, simple past and past participle witched)

  1. (intransitive) To dowse for water.
    • 1964, Hilda E. Webb, Water Witching and Other Folk Talents in the Neighborhood of Bloomington, Indiana:
      And I told him there's a vein down there, I know 'caus I used to—uh, I went out here and witched one for this house, at the corner.
    • 2006, Helen Ayers, Appalachian Daughter: The Exodus of the Mountaineers from Appalachia:
      Nothing would make him shut up until I brought my dogwood stick into his office and witched for water.
    • 2010, C.J. Ott, True Stories: Memories, Musings, Odds and Ends:
      Eventually, Don and Jim built nice big houses on their lots. We enjoyed watching them being built. I remember Don's builder came out and “witched” for a well.
Derived terms
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See also

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other terms of interest

Etymology 2

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From Middle English wicchen, from Old English wiċċian, from Proto-Germanic *wikkōną, from Proto-Indo-European *wik-néh₂-, derivation of *weyk-. In the senses arising in Middle English and later probably aphetic from bewitch.[3]

Verb

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witch (third-person singular simple present witches, present participle witching, simple past and past participle witched)

  1. (obsolete, intransitive) To practise witchcraft.
  2. (transitive) To bewitch.
    • 1900, Gilbert Murray, Andromache: A Play in Three Acts:
      She has witched the Queen's womb long ago, and witched the whole harvest.
    • 2012, Carol Berg, The Daemon Prism: A Novel of the Collegia Magica, Penguin, →ISBN:
      The little man was seething and shaking, near collapse with fear and anger. “Tell 'em, Alvy.” “A tenday ago, Will came to the Cockatoo acting crazy, so scared he'd pissed hisself. Said the sorcerer had found him in the stables and witched him.”
    • 2014, Charles L. McNichols, Crazy Weather, Counterpoint Press, →ISBN:
      “Maybe the Mormonhater witched him. There's lot of stories being told around about that old man.” “Them's lies,” denied South Boy hotly. “He may have scared Havek, but he never witched him.”
    • 2017, Benjamin R. Kracht, Kiowa Belief and Ritual, U of Nebraska Press, →ISBN, page 134:
      Sometime in 1945 he faced an opponent who apparently “witched” him, causing facial paralysis and dizzy spells that rendered him bedridden. An old Indian doctor came to his bedside, looked into his eyes, and proclaimed that he had been witched by his Seminole adversary.

Etymology 3

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Compare wick.

Noun

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witch (plural witches)

  1. A cone of paper which is placed in a vessel of lard or other fat and used as a taper.

Etymology 4

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Chosen for its euphemistic rhyme.

Noun

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witch (plural witches)

  1. (euphemistic) A bitch.

References

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  1. ^ Guus Kroonen, Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden: Brill, 2013), 586.
  2. ^ John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “witch, v.2”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN: “f. witch n.3”
  3. ^ James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Witch (witʃ), v.”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume X, Part 2 (V–Z), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 207, column 1: “OE. wiccian, corresp. to MG., LG. wikken, wicken, of obscure origin. In the senses arising in ME. and later prob. aphetic from bewitch.”

Scots

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle English wicche, from Old English wiċċe (“witch (female),sorceress”) and wiċċa (“witch (male), sorcerer”) m., deverbative from wiċċian (“to practice sorcery”), from Proto-Germanic *wikkōną (compare West Frisian wikje, wikke (“to foretell, warn”), German Low German wicken (“to soothsay”), Dutch wikken, wichelen (“to dowse, divine”)), from Proto-Indo-European *wik-néh₂-, derivation of *weyk- (“to consecrate; separate”);[1] akin to Latin victima (“sacrificial victim”), Lithuanian viẽkas (“life-force”), Sanskrit विनक्ति (vinákti, “to set apart, separate out”).

Noun

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witch (plural witchs)

  1. witch; A person, chiefly a woman, skilled in sorcery.
    1. warlock
  2. (transferred) Various animals, insects and objects in some way associated with witches.
    1. A moth in general; a tortoiseshell butterfly.
    2. The Torbay sole, pole flounder or dab, Glyptocephalus cynoglossus.
    3. The seaweed, Laminaria saccharina.
    4. A red clay marble, generally one that is considered effective in winning games, a “wizard”.

Synonyms

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female magic user
male magic user

Derived terms

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Verb

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witch (third-person singular simple present, present participle witching, simple past witchit, past participle witchit)

  1. (transitive) To harm (a person, etc.) by means of witchcraft; to bewitch, cast a spell on.
  2. (figurative) To affect or influence as by witchcraft.

References

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  1. ^ Guus Kroonen, Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden: Brill, 2013), 586.

Further reading

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